Schrödinger raises $85 million in venture capital from Bill Gates and others.

Long-established software company Schrödinger is attracting lots of attention with its suite of molecular simulation tools intended to accelerate drug design and development. In recent years, Schrödinger has been used by startup biotech firms, such as Nimbus Therapeutics and Morphic Therapeutic, and established pharma companies like Takeda and Sanofi, who use its in silico platform for programs in neurodegenerative diseases, schizophrenia, autoimmune diseases and oncology, respectively.

Now Schrödinger has attracted additional Series E venture capital funding from some big players. The firm has raised $85 million from contributors including Deerfield Management, Baron, Qiming Venture Partners, GV (formerly Google Ventures), Bill Gates and WuXi AppTec. 

WuXi AppTec also recently launched a drug discovery joint venture with Schrödinger. The funds will be used to advance the firm’s technology platform and expand its drug discovery efforts.